Report | Bristol City 4-0 Argyle

Argyle fell to a second defeat on the road in a week, this time losing 4-0 away to Bristol City.

The first half was goalless, and Argyle were competitive, even if on the back foot, but once the opening goal arrived, the result never looked in question.

Although Scott Twine’s opener, on 57 minutes, was a little fortunate, it was deserved, and it led to Anis Mehmeti – who had the initial shot which deflected off Twine for Twine’s goal – making it two with a curling shot into the corner.

On 70 minutes, a Bristol breakaway led to Mehmeti scoring again to make it 3-0, and slightly more formally put the game to bed, with Sinclair Armstrong, bang on 90 minutes, tucking it in and switching off the lights.

Argyle Head Coach Wayne Rooney made six changes to his side, following the Pilgrims’ 6-1 defeat at Norwich City four days prior.

Lewis Gibson and Nathanael Ogbeta came back into a reshuffled back-line, which reverted to a back four, with Victor Palsson at right-back, and Julio Plegeuzuelo alongside Gibson in the centre, in front of goalkeeper Dan Grimshaw.

Adam Forshaw and Jordan Houghton came into the team to join Adam Randell in a three-man central midfield, flanked by Bali Mumba on the left. Freddie Issaka also came into the team, playing wide on the right, with the final addition, Ryan Hardie, the lone striker.

Argyle looked a step sharper from the outset, getting in City’s faces and notably winning more 50-50s, but the home were still on the front foot, and around the ten-minute mark began to threaten.

From a left-wing corner, captain Jason Knight won a header near the edge of the six-yard area, but glanced it too finely, and the effort went wide. Shortly afterwards, this time from open play, City again attacked on their left flank, with a curiously deflected cross from Cam Pring sitting up for Nahki Wells at the far post, but he could not hook the ball on target.

Former Pilgrim Zak Vyner, playing on the right of City’s back three, venture forwarded to rasp a couple of efforts wide, but Argyle began to play themselves into a bit. Palsson received the ball back from a throw he had taken in an advanced area, and Hardie’s flicked header only just evaded his white-shirt team-mates arriving beside him.

On the half-hour mark, Anis Mehmeti took a shot which Grimshaw saved, with the ball rebounding to Pring. His effort on goal was diverted by Nahki Wells, and again Grimshaw prevented, before he made a third – even better – save from Yu Hirakawa’s follow-up shot. In truth, the flag went up at this stage, almost certainly for Wells being in an offside position, but Grimshaw was not to know this, and it had been an impressive trifecta of stops.

Right on half-time, City did get the ball past Grimshaw – eventually – but again saw a flag raised for offside. Pring had found Mehmeti whose shot was saved by Grimshaw, with the rebound falling to Wells, who converted, but the brief cheers of the home supporters for a goal were soon replaced by those of the 3,300-strong Green Army, at the side of the raised cloth of luminous yellow.

Most of the first-half action had taken place very close to the Argyle supporters, and it would be entirely incorrect to say anything other than the Robins had dominated the opening 45 minutes, but for Argyle, a goalless first half represented a minor positive. The question was how the second half could be managed.

Signs were promising from the restart, with a decent move down the right coming inside via Houghton and Randell, and into Hardie, who swivelled on the edge of the box, and struck Argyle’s first shot on target. Max O’Leary saved relatively comfortably, but it was a good sign.

City reminded Argyle of their presence quickly, first with Luke McNally's header from a corner, then Mehmeti, from open play, testing Grimshaw. The Argyle goalkeeper passed said test, but could do nothing about a Twine effort, when City broke forward and outnumbered the Pilgrims. Fortunately, for those of a green-and-white persuasion, the ball rolled wide.

The chances were now flooding in, with Twine at the heart of it. Grimshaw made one save from the City number 10, before a few minutes later Twine struck the crossbar. Argyle had barely cleared before the ball returned to the area, and the Robins took the lead.

For all of the hosts' pressure and chances, the goal came slightly fortunately, but they had probably earned their luck. Mehmeti took a shot inside the area, which deflected off Twine and past Grimshaw.

Argyle reacted by sending on Andre Gray and Michael Obafemi for Hardie and Issaka, and changing to a 3-5-2 formation, but City soon had a second goal. Mehmeti, finding space easy to come by in the inside-left channel, curled confidently into the bottom corner.

Argyle showed signs of life with two near attacks, each bringing Ogbeta into the action on the left flank. His first low cross was unlucky not to be attacked across the near post, but the second was blocked, and led to a Bristol City counter-attack.

On the halfway line, substitute George Earthy looked crowded out, but managed to play a ball through for Wells. With numbers in hand, City moved the ball to Mehmeti, and he cosily bagged the third, his second.

Forshaw, probably emerging with as much credit as anyone on Argyle’s team, took one shot from outside the area which whistled not far over, then was involved more than once in a sharp attack to get to the area’s edge, but that fizzled out before anyone took on a shot.

As the game limped towards its finish, City knowing of their victory, and Argyle resigned to their fate, substitute Armstrong got in behind and fired in low to score City’s fourth, and the 10th goal Argyle have conceded this week.

Argyle: 31 Dan Grimshaw, 2 Bali Mumba, 3 Nathanael Ogbeta, 4 Jordan Houghton (capt) (34 Caleb Roberts, 79), 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 9 Ryan Hardie (19 Andre Gray, 59), 17 Lewis Gibson, 20 Adam Randell, 27 Adam Forshaw, 35 Freddie Issaka (14 Michael Obafemi, 59), 44 Victor Palsson. Substitutes: 25 Marko Marosi (gk), 11 Callum Wright, 15 Mustapha Bundu, 18 Darko Gyabi, 28 Rami Al-Hajj, 29 Matty Sorinola.

Booked: Palsson 31, Grimshaw 66, Forshaw 89.

Bristol City: 1 Max O’Leary, 3 Cameron Pring, 6 Max Bird, 7 Yu Hirakawa (20 Sam Bell, 87), 10 Scott Twine(40 George Earthy, 69), 11 Anis Mehmeti, 12 Jason Knight (capt), 14 Zak Vyner, 15 Luke McNally, 16 Rob Dickie, 21 Nahki Wells (30 Sinclair Armstrong, 75). Substitutes: 23 Stefan Basic (gk), 5 Rob Atkinson, 9 Fally Mayulu, 24 Haydon Roberts, 27 Harry Cornick, 31 Elijah Morrison.

Goals: Twine 57, Mehmeti 62, 70, Armstrong 90.

Referee: Tim Robinson

Attendance: 24,317 (3,390 away)